Dribble Drabble
by MemyselfandI373
Summary: Pretty self-explanatory. Drabbles and one-shots and such.
1. Homesickness

Boredom. It was going to kill her someday.

She let out a groan and plopped onto her bed sideways, her arms and legs hanging over the sides.

"_Dummkopf_!" came an indignant yelp beside her. Bovril grunted and muttered things like 'Daft ninny' and 'Bumrag' as it crawled onto her back, turning around once like a dog, and snuggling into her shirt.

Deryn sighed. She was supposed to be on an adventure, playing spy for the Zoological Society, yet here she was, bored to tears, with only a loris and a ridiculous amount of paperwork to keep her company.

She traced the intricate designs in the woodwork of the fabricated wood floor, a pang going through her as she traced the shape of the _Leviathan_. She could have been up there, topside, the wind whistling through her hair, the feeling of the airship's membrane beneath her boots.

"_Mr. _Sharp." Bovril murmurred. "Daft."

Another sigh and a glare directed at the dozing beastie. "Little bum-rag."

It just chuckled, curling tighter into a ball, its claws digging into her back.

Of course, it was right. She couldn't have stayed on the _Leviathan _for long without being discovered. After all, _Alek_, had figured out her secret; both secrets actually, and he wasn't exactly the most observant person in the world. How long would it have been before a crew member found out? A few months at best.

Personally, Deryn blamed her anatomy for that, not the cleverness of the men on the ship.

"'Papers due by Monday, _Mr. _Sharp.'" the loris said in a perfect imitation of the lady boffin.

"Shut up!" she growled, sitting up, shaking the creature off.

It giggled and scampered up the bed post to sit on the headboard.

"Papers!"

Deryn shot Bovril a look that could have frightened the tentacles off a kraken, then twisted around to glare at the offending pile of paper, willing it to disappear.

"Bloody boffins." she muttered, falling back onto the bed.

It had been a month since they left the _Leviathan_, and Dr. Barlow had yet to give them a life-threatening mission. The most dangerous thing she and Alek ever got to do was walk Tazza, and maybe even collect some samples of plant life threads. Most of their time was taken up by a barking lot of busywork, and two or three tongue-lashings from Count Volger for sneaking off to explore the zoo or the city unaccompanied. 'A young lady and a young man should never be alone together.' he had said, giving Deryn a pointed look. 'No matter what everyone else thinks the two in question genders are.'

She chuckled a squick, remembering the way Alek had taken her hand immediately after the Count had gone, and led _her_ off to explore for once. Her amusement quickly faded and she remembered her former spell of boredom, slinging an arm over her eyes, biting back a groan.

"Deryn?"

She jumped, realizing that someone was talking to her, and she raised her head, a bit startled to find Alek looking down at her, concern in his gaze.

"What?"

He frowned and set his own stack of papers on her desk, the two piles matching quite nicely.

"Are you alright?"

"Oh, aye." she said, smiling sheepishly.

She had often teased his princliness while on the _Leviathan_ for complaining of boredom, letting many sarcastic comments drop as she headed off to perform some duty. Now _she _was the one complaining of the exact same thing, and she didn't want him to think her a hypocrite for it.

"Hmm." he didn't sound convinced. "Well, I suppose you would like to hear the news."

Deryn swallowed. "What kind of news?"

"The good kind, at least by your standards."

Alek looked a bit hesitant, but handed her a written assignment. "Dr. Barlow said we have to be ready by tomorrow morning."

She grinned as she read, her eyes growing bright.

"You know what this means?"

"Another madcap adventure?"

"Aye."

"I was hoping you wouldn't say that."

Deryn just laughed.


	2. Fist Fights

**Ello poppets! I don't really have much to say sooo...**

**Disclaimer! Since Scott Westerfeld has so selfishly kept the copyrights to Leviathan, I do not own any of it. **

**Also: This is based off an awesome picture by werewolf056 on dA. **

"Now, Deryn, let's be rational..." Alek said, hands up in surrender, backing up a bit.

"Rational?" she snarled, fire in her blue eyes.

"Y-yes?" It was more of a question than a statement.

She let out a noise that sounded like a cross between a bark and a laugh.

"You should have thought about rationality _before _you went and said all that yackum about _my _abilities."

"I didn't say anything about you!"

"You were talking about women, Alek, that's the same thing!"

"I didn't mean to-"

She put her hands on her hips, glaring at him. "You wouldn't have said that to _Lilit _would you."

Oh my, he was, as Deryn would put it, in deep clart.

He backed up a little more, hoping she didn't have her rigger's knife on her. "Given the circumstances, I-"

"You what?" she asked, making it sound like a threat, and took a step closer.

She was going to kill him, he knew it. "W-well, I..."

Deryn finally lost her patience and threw a punch, narrowly missing his jaw. He ducked and side-stepped, holding his arms up to protect his head. She threw another, aiming for his nose, but he jumped back, tripping and landing on his back, Deryn on top of him, pulling her fist back, ready to beat him to a pulp.

He only had one chance to save his face. Right before she struck, he grabbed her shirt and pulling her into a kiss, effectively shutting down any fight in her. He smirked at her wide baby blue eyes, letting his own emerald ones drift shut.

There seemed to be more ways than one to win a fist-fight.

**If you have any requests just tell me in a review! Even if you don't have a request, please review. **


	3. June 28th

**A/N: Hey guys. This is a rather depressing fic, but it's been ninety-nine years today since Franz Ferdinand and Sophie Chotek's assassination, so this is a memorial of sorts. I changed it to fit the Leviathan Universe. **

**Please review and requests are welcome. **

**Disclaimer: Scott-la owns Leviathan Series, not me. **

Sophie didn't know whether to laugh or cry. They had been shot at. A bullet had barely missed her husband's head. One had whizzed past her shoulder, as she leaned to the side to whisper something to Franz, and she shuddered to think that if she hadn't, there would have been a bullet lodged in the base of her neck.

She didn't let any trace of these thoughts reach her face though. It wouldn't do to let it show that the assassination attempt, which had happened a mere two days ago, had shaken her. Even though it had. Very, very badly.

Instead, she sat at the dining table, delicately sipping at the white wine placed in front of her, listening to Franz and a politician of some sort discuss the attempt on his life. It seemed that Serbians were responsible, but no one could verify.

She swirled the pale wine in her glass, listening rather half-heartedly to the conversation. Every time she thought of those terrible moments in chaos, Alek's face came to mind. Her son, alone in far-away Austria. She couldn't bear to think that he was in danger.

He was, she knew, no matter how much she wished it wasn't true.

"-it is unclear, sir. No one has sound evidence." the politician was saying.

Franz frowned, his brow furrowed. After a moment he stood, the man standing quickly as well, and shook his hand. "Thank you. That will be all."

The man bowed and left.

Franz took her hand and led her to their rooms, squeezing it reassuringly as they slipped inside.

"I'm sorry, _liebe." _he said quietly, taking her other hand.

Sophie leaned into his embrace and gave a small, troubled sigh. Of course Franz would take the weight of this disaster upon himself.

"I only worry about Aleksander." she whispered.

"Count Volger will take-" he stopped mid-sentence, his eyes wide.

"What's the-"

Suddenly he collasped, and a sharp, excruciating pain shot through her. She let out a strangled cry, realizing what was happening.

Sophie fell beside Franz, holding his hand as she took one last breath.


	4. The Science of Deduction pt 1

"Why are you here?"

Alek sucked in a breath. Closed his eyes for a moment. Listened to the patter of the rain outside.

The therapist waited for a response, then sighed. "Aleksander, it's been almost a year since we last met. Please, tell me what's wrong."

"I..." he tried to speak, but the words died in his throat.

"Just tell me."

"You read the newspaper?" he asked, opening his eyes, but not meeting the woman's eyes.

"Sometimes."

"And you watch the news?"

The woman nodded.

His jaw clenched, the backs of his eyes burning, his throat closing. "Then you know what's wrong."

She remained silent, waiting for more.

He looked out the floor-to-ceiling windows, watching raindrops run in rivers down the smooth glass. Out of all the things that had ever happened to him, this was one thing he would ever be ready to cope with.

"I'm here," he managed to choke out. "because... because"

He squeezed his eyes shut again, bringing his steepled fingers to his mouth, relentlessly holding the tears back.

"Alek, you need to let it out." the woman pressed gently.

"I'm sorry, I can't." his voice shook.

"You can't go on like this," she leaned forward, her chocolate eyes searching his face. "Please."

"I'm here, because...because, my best..." he stopped, wishing he had never come in the first place, and yet, the words pushed, fighting to get out of him. A deep, shaky breath. "Because my best friend, Der-" Tears began building in his eyes, his voice broke.

"Go on."

"Deryn."

A flash of blond, those beautiful blue eyes, a lopsided grin.

"Deryn Sharp...is dead."


End file.
